Plucking another undefeated pairing from the top tables, this Round will see Mexico D.F.’s Carlos Jesus Mercado Ramirez go head-to-head with Jose Abel Salazar Pineda from Villahermosa, Tabasco. Mercado is playing Shaddolls, while Salazar is running Nekroz. Both Duelists are 5-0 so far, but only one will leave this table undefeated. Salazar won the roll and chose to play second.

Mercado started off with Mathematician, sending Shaddoll Squamata to his Graveyard and following it up with Shaddoll Falco. That triggered Falco’s effect and Mercado Special Summoned it face-down. He Set three cards to his back row – a pretty strong opening.

Salazar had two Book of Eclipse; Nekroz Mirror; Nekroz Kaleidoscope; Nekroz ofBrionac; and Nekroz of Trishula. He discarded Brionac for its effect and Mercado Chained Mistake! Salazar Set two cards to his Spell and Trap Card Zone, ended, and Mercado flipped Sinister Shadow Games to send Shaddoll Dragon to his Graveyard, flipping his Shaddoll Falco in the process. He destroyed Salazar’s Kaleidoscope with Dragon, then Special Summoned it face-down.

Mercado was gaining momentum fast. He Flip Summoned his Dragon to bounce away Salazar’s last Set card, then Normal Summoned another Mathematician! That sent another Squamata to his Graveyard, in turn yarding Shaddoll Beast for a draw. He turned Falco to attack mode and swung with everything for a combined total of 5500 Battle Damage. He activated Shaddoll Core next, making a fifth attack for 1450 damage.

Salazar drew Nekroz of Valkyrus, sitting on 1050 Life Points. He Set both Books ofEclipse.

Mercado Tuned Falco to Shaddoll Core to Synchro Summon Star Eater, but before he could enter the Battle Phase, Salazar desperately flipped Book of Eclipse! Mercado Tribute Set a monster by Tributing Mathematician, then flipped everything in the End Phase: he drew four cards for Book of Eclipse, plus two more for Beast’s effect, and bounced away the other Book from Salazar’s back row with Dragon. He sent Falco to the yard with Beast to Special Summon it, and discarded Sinister Shadow Games to get down to the maximum hand size. Salazar conceded moments later when Mercado had Effect Veiler to negate the ability of Salazar’s Ritual Summoned Nekroz of Brionac.

Carlos Jesus Mercado Ramirez hits a tremendous opening, establishing Mistake on Turn 1 and then raking in free cards by the fistful! Jose Abel Salazar Pineda would need to make the most of his Side Deck if he wanted to mount a comeback in Duels 2 and 3.

Salazar chose to go second again, and Mercado opened with Mathematician for Shaddoll Squamata into Shaddoll Falco, just like before. He Special Summoned Falco and ended – at least this time he didn’t have Mistake.

Salazar had Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands; Reinforcement of theArmy; Raigeki; Mystical Space Typhoon; Ice Hand; and Nekroz of Trishula. He Summoned Manju to get Nekroz of Unicore, then used Reinforcement to get Nekrozof Clausolas searching Nekroz Kaleidoscope. He activated it to send Herald of the Arc Light to the Graveyard, Ritual Summoning Unicore and using the Herald’s ability to search his Deck for Nekroz of Brionac.

That got him Nekroz of Valkyrus, and he activated Raigeki to clear Mathematician. Shaddoll Falco revived itself, and Salazar made two attacks to destroy it and knock Mercado down to 6600 Life Points.

Mercado fired back with Dark Hole next turn, then Summoned Shaddoll Squamata for a direct attack of his own. He Set one card to his Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Salazar drew Denko Sekka and banished Unicore and Kaleidoscope; Mercado Chained Mistake, but this time Salazar had Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it on the Chain! He searched Nekroz Mirror, then activated it for Nekroz of Trishula – Mercado kept it from banishing anything with Artifact Lancea! Salazar kept up the pressure, summoning Denko Sekka and attacking with both monsters.

Mercado drew to two cards in hand and blew away Salazar’s monsters with Raigeki! He Set his last card to his backrow.

Salazar banished Mirror to search Nekroz Cycle, then used it to Tribute Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Valkyrus. Shurit got him Nekroz of Brionac, and he Summoned Ice Hand. Salazar attacked with it and cleared Mercado’s Shaddoll Core. He won the Duel a turn later when Mercado failed to draw a monster.

Jose Abel Salazar Pineda ties it up at 1-1 for the Match in a very different kind of Duel, as both players demonstrate extreme aggression with a fast-paced exchange of attacks. Mistake fell flat this time, and Salazar presses the Match to one more Duel.

Salazar was up first with a hand of Mystical Space Typhoon; Nekroz Kaleidoscope; Ice Hand; Maxx “C”; and Reinforcement of the Army. Reinforcement got him Nekroz of Clausolas, which searched Nekroz Kaleidoscope.

Mercado Set one card to his back row.

Salazar drew Typhoon and Summoned Ice Hand for a direct attack. He Set Typhoon. Mercado flipped Sinister Shadow Games in the End Phase to yard Shaddoll Hedgehog, getting Shaddoll Squamata from his Deck.

Mercado Summoned Squamata to attack over Ice Hand; since there was nothing for it to destroy, Salazar couldn’t Special Summon Fire Hand.

Salazar drew Mystical Space Typhoon and passed.

Mercado activated Shaddoll Fusion and Salazar Chained the effect of Maxx “C” quick as lightning! Mercado Fused Artifact Lancea and his on-field Squamata for El Shaddoll Construct, and Salazar drew Royal Decree. Construct’s effect sent Shaddoll Beast from Mercado’s Deck to the Graveyard, and Squamata yarded a Hedgehog. That Hedgehog added another Shaddoll Squamata to Mercado’s hand while the Beast got him a draw. Mercado Normal Summoned the Squamata and attacked with it, then pressed with Construct, reducing Salazar to 3000 Life Points.

He continued on, Fusing Construct and Squamata with El Shaddoll Fusion for another Construct! That fed Salazar another draw with Maxx “C”, but also landed another Shaddoll Dragon in the graveyard to destroy Salazar’s Typhoon. The second Construct attacked and Salazar had just 200 Life Points left! Mercado Set an imposing five cards to his back row, just inches from victory.

Salazar searched Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz with Reinforcement of the Army, then pitched Nekroz of Clausolas to get Nekroz Cycle. He used it to Ritual Summon the Clausolas with Shurit, and used Shurit’s search to get Nekroz ofBrionac. That got him Nekroz of Unicore, which he promptly Summoned with Kaleidoscope and Herald of the Arc Light. The Herald fetched Nekroz of Valkyrus from Salazar’s Deck, and he used Clausolas’ effect to reduce Construct’s ATK, letting him attack and destroy Construct with Unicore. Salazar ended, and Mercado activated Sinister Shadow Games to send Shaddoll Falco to his Graveyard; he Special Summoned it face-down.

Mercado Flip Summoned Falco to revive his Construct face-down, then Normal Summoned Squamata. Raigeki blew away Clausolas and Unicore, and Mercado attacked with Squamata… into Nekroz of Valkyrus’ effect. But Mercado Chained ElShaddoll Fusion! That let him remove Squamata from the field before Valkyrus could stop its attack and end the Battle Phase, and with that move Salazar’s fate was sealed, Mercado would Fusion Summon El Shaddoll Winda and attack for game, so Salazar conceded the moment he saw the El Shaddoll Fusion.

Carlos Jesus Mercado Ramirez wins an aggressive 2-1 Match, making a classic ElShaddoll Fusion play to attack through Nekroz of Valkyrus! Shaddolls move on undefeated.